August 22, 2010

Scriptures for August 22nd: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalms 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 Theme: Listening to God’s call in your life


Jeremiah: We will be looking at the words of the prophet Jeremiah for the next six weeks. Chapter one starts with the story of his call. The other prophets that we look at were called as adults. They became God’s spokesperson as a result of something they say going on in their lives. Jeremiah realizes that he was called from birth, from before birth to be a prophet of God. He calls himself a prophet to the nations – which means that he is called to speak to the Hebrews and gentiles. Everyone else (in some ways even Jesus) believes they are to speak just to the Hebrews. Jeremiah is alive in a time when his people are forced to live and deal with others, and Jeremiah must speak to the times – the time of exile.

Hebrews: This entire book helps us to remember the value of faith. It gives us advice on what we should remember. Today, we should remember that the gospel is good news. In a difficult atmosphere, we look for a tame faith, a dependable faith, a faith that makes sense to us. That is why we call Jesus our brother, and God our Father – we are looking for support. The author reminds us here that faith is anything but tame and predictable. The God we worship is an unquenchable fire, and he puts fire in our faith – to et up and do something.

Questions: When you look back at your life, what evidence do you have that God has been with you all along? What does it mean to be called by God? How is God calling you right now? How you try to make God dependable? How can you break out of your routine and see God in all of God’s glory?